james cameron dnc

It is, I think, essential that a film-centered publication doesn’t throw its hat into the too-large, shriek-filled tunnel that is American electorate discourse, so I’ll tread lightly when posting this new short by James Cameron — one that concerns climate change, premiered at the Democratic National Convention last night, and attacks a major party’s candidate while exalting the efforts of another. But we’re just here for the cinema! (Maybe.)

Anyway, it’s nice to see something from Cameron, even if that something is only a few minutes long and in large part consists of pre-existing footage. (Call this the “Avatar Effect.”) While one might think Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sigourney Weaver‘s participation are about the only thing that give this an auteurist stamp, consider the relationship of this short’s apocalyptic visions with the likes of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Abyss, and Titanic… or, well, don’t, if you wish not to. He can’t quite go full nuclear-annihilation-nightmare on us, as much as I’d like to see a convention hall hit with that, but the doom and gloom is a nice way of making a return, however briefly, especially before what are likely to be more cartoonish adventures in Avatar 2, 3, 4, and 5 over the next several years. Now there’s something scary to think about.

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